ENTERTAINMENT, LIFESTYLE | April 20, 2018
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| (Image Source: Rappler/Cannes Film Festival) |
Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag (Manila In The Claws Of Light), a classic
Filipino film released and shown in local theaters in 1975, has recently been
helmed among the world's all-time greatest films after being
chosen by New York-based home video distribution company The Criterion
Collection.
Directed by the late master filmmaker Lino Brocka, the movie revolves
around a fisherman from the province named Julio Madiaga (portrayed by Bembol Roco)
who goes to the big city to search for his long-lost beloved Ligaya Paraiso
(played by Hilda Koronel) only to become exposed to the ills and violence that
has been transpiring in the said city. The movie would eventually become
Brocka's searing and indirect exposition of a society in the claws of the
Marcos dictatorship considering that it was filmed during the middle part of the
Martial Law period.
Known for gathering the greatest films from around the world and
publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality with supplemental
features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film since 1984, Criterion
is set to release the Filipino film's digitally restored format in time for the
celebration of Philippine independence day with an introduction by Martin
Scorsese whose some of his works were also part of Criterion's library of
all-time greats. The film's restoration was carried out in 2013 before it was
shown in the Cannes Film Festival in France under the Classics section and it
was made possible by Scorsese's Film Foundation - World Cinema Project in
collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).
The Criterion release will also include two documentaries, namely
"Signed: Lino Brocka" by Christian Blackwood that chronicles the life
story of the National Artist For Cinema and "'Maynila'..A Filipino
Film" which foretells the making of the classic Filipino flick. Added to
the release is an exclusive interview with critic-filmmaker Tony Rayns and an
essay by film scholar Jose B. Capino.
